Bulb · Amaryllidaceae
Amaryllis
Hippeastrum hybridum
Pot the bulb, give it warmth and water, and that bare lump turns into a tall stalk of trumpet flowers in just weeks.
Bright indirect
Every 5–10 days
64–75°F · 18–24°C
28–56 days
Overview
Not many bulbs can match the show an amaryllis puts on. One chunky bulb sends up a sturdy stalk crowned with several giant trumpet flowers, often in deep red, clean white, or pink mixed with white. It sits in the genus Hippeastrum, the tender amaryllis cousins people keep indoors, and honestly, it barely asks for anything to bloom.
Most growers treat it as a forced indoor bulb, potting it up in fall so it flowers through winter and on into spring. Settle the bulb so its top third pokes above the soil, water it, and keep it cozy, and you'll see the first flowers around 4 to 8 weeks later, sticking around for three or four weeks. Where winters stay mild, in zones 7 to 10, it can carry on outdoors too.
Here's the real secret to flowers a second year: it's all about what happens once the blooms are done. Keep those leaves growing in bright light and feed them so the bulb banks energy, then let it rest somewhere cool and dark before you wake it up again. Skip that step and next season you'll get all leaves and no flowers.
Care
The short version: give it bright light, a warm room, and a pot that drains well. Set the bulb with its top third showing, water once the top 2 inches of soil go dry, and feed it during active growth so it can bloom again next year.
Light
Amaryllis loves bright light, so a sunny window with a few hours of direct sun is ideal. It handles anything from full sun down to partial shade, though skimp on light and you'll end up with weak, leaning stalks. Give the pot a quarter turn every few days to keep the flower stem growing nice and straight.
Water
Soak it well right after potting, then keep the mix just barely moist until growth gets going. Once the top 2 inches of soil feel dry, water again and let the pot drain freely. Bump it up to once or twice a week through active growth and flowering, then ease off or stop altogether while the bulb sleeps.
Soil
Reach for a well-drained potting mix loaded with organic matter, say equal parts peat and perlite. It's happy at a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Drainage is what really counts here, because a bulb left sitting in soggy soil rots in no time.
Temperature
Keep it in regular warm rooms, 64°F to 75°F (18°C to 24°C), while it's growing and flowering. Slightly cooler air helps the open blooms hang on longer. That cool, dark stretch it needs for dormancy is a separate phase, not part of its day-to-day range.
Humidity
Plain old indoor humidity does the job, so there's no target number to chase. Amaryllis really doesn't care how moist the air is, which makes it a fuss-free winter houseplant.
Feeding
Feed it every two weeks while it's actively growing and the leaves are up, but never while the bulb is bare and resting. A liquid houseplant fertilizer with more phosphorus, roughly a 10-20-15 mix, helps it flower, and you give it at half strength.
Pruning
Pinch off each bloom as it wilts, then cut the whole stalk down close to the bulb once the last flower's spent. Leave the leaves where they are, since they're busy recharging the bulb for next year. Only take the foliage off after it yellows and dies back on its own.
Repotting
Since amaryllis flowers best when it's a little potbound, you only need to repot every 3 to 4 years. Do it when roots crowd or circle the pot, the bulb takes over most of the container, or the blooms start getting smaller. Replant with the top third of the bulb above the soil line.
Size & spacing
In flower, a potted amaryllis reaches 12 to 35 inches (30 to 90 cm) tall and spreads roughly 9 to 12 inches (23 to 30 cm) across. Stick to one bulb per pot, in a container only a touch wider than the bulb itself.
When to plant
An amaryllis lives by the schedule of a forced bulb. Pot it in fall, usually October or November, and it throws up its stalk for winter and early-spring color. In zones 7 to 10 you can shift it outdoors once the spring frosts are behind you.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: Pot bulbs indoors in fall to early winter (often October through November) for winter and early-spring bloom.
- Plant: Move or plant outdoors in spring after all danger of frost has passed (zones 7-10).
- Harvest: Winter to spring; flowers typically develop about 4 to 8 weeks after potting and last roughly 3 to 4 weeks.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 7–10
Temperature: down to -18°C
Troubleshooting
Nearly every amaryllis hiccup turns up in the stalk, the leaves, or the bulb. Spot the early warning signs and you can often rescue the bulb for another year. Find your symptom below, then step in before things get worse.
A squishy bulb and growth that flops over
If the bulb goes soft and starts to stink, you're dealing with bulb rot, and a pot left too soggy around a leafless bulb is usually behind it. Quit watering right away and let the mix dry, then move it into fresh, well-drained soil with the top third of the bulb poking above the surface. Cut away whatever has rotted, and toss the whole bulb if the rot has crept into its center.
Fix:
- Stop watering and let the medium dry out
- Repot into fresh, well-drained mix with one-third to one-half of the bulb above the soil line
- Trim away rotted tissue or discard a badly rotted bulb
Lots of leafy growth, zero flowers
When you get healthy foliage but no flowers, that's a failure to rebloom, and the reason is almost always a bulb that skipped its rest or never stored up enough energy. So after the last flower fades, park the leaves in bright light and feed them so the bulb can recharge, then hand it about 8 to 12 weeks of cool, dark sleep before forcing it again. And if the bulb is just small or young? It probably needs one more season to bulk up.
Fix:
- Keep foliage actively growing in bright light and fertilize during the growing season to rebuild the bulb
- Provide a cool (about 50 to 60 degrees F), dark rest period of 8 to 12 weeks
- Resume watering and warmth to force new growth and bloom
Reddish streaks and spots on leaves and stalks
Reddish streaks and spots creeping over the foliage and stalk usually mean red blotch, sometimes called leaf scorch, a fungus that hitches a ride in on the bulb. Pull and bin the worst leaves, then look the bulb over for the tunneling and soft patches that signal bulb mites or narcissus fly larvae instead. Healthy bulbs can go into fresh, clean mix, while anything infested or rotting belongs in the trash.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy severely affected leaves or bulbs
- Inspect and discard infested or rotting bulbs
- Repot healthy bulbs into fresh, clean potting mix
Stalks stretching tall and leaning at the window
Floppy stalks that lean hard are showing etiolation, which is just the plant straining toward light it can't quite reach. Shift it to a bright, sunny window and spin the pot every couple of days so the stalk firms up straight rather than crooked. Toasty rooms only make it worse by forcing soft, rushed growth, and a stake will prop up the tallest stems until they toughen.
Fix:
- Move the plant to a bright, sunny window
- Rotate the pot regularly so stalks grow upright
- Stake tall flower stalks for support if needed
Toxicity
This one's a poisonous plant, and the bulb is the riskiest part of the whole thing. Every part carries lycorine and related alkaloids that upset the stomach when eaten. Keep bulbs and plants well away from pets, livestock, and children, and wash your hands once you've handled them.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Mild
Let a nosy cat nibble a leaf or bulb and you'll usually see drooling and vomiting, followed by a cat that skips dinner and seems off. Bigger mouthfuls can add diarrhea, a sore belly, and the shakes.
Dogs Mild
A dog that digs up and chews the bulb tends to drool, throw up, and go off its food. Swallow enough and belly pain, runny stools, and trembling can show up next.
Horses Mild
Those same alkaloids hit a horse's gut hard, so you might notice a flat mood, diarrhea, drooling, and colicky aches, sometimes with a bit of trembling.
Rabbits Toxic
Lycorine sits in every part of this plant, and a little body like a rabbit's has almost no wiggle room with it. Far better to keep the bulb, leaves, and flowers well clear than to chance a single nibble.
Livestock Toxic
Cattle, goats, and sheep can be poisoned by the alkaloids packed into the leaves and bulbs, ending up with an upset stomach and weakness. Old bulbs dumped near a pasture are a genuine danger.
Birds Toxic
The lycorine that bothers mammals is just as risky for pet birds, so a chewed leaf or petal really isn't worth the gamble. Keep the plant out of any room where a bird gets to fly loose.
People Caution
None of this plant is food, and the bulb especially can trigger vomiting and stomach pain if it's swallowed. Wash up after handling bulbs and keep them away from little kids.
The bulb is the most poisonous part of the plant; keep bulbs and plants out of reach of pets and children and wash hands after handling.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
There are hundreds of named amaryllis out there, but only a handful keep showing up at the garden center. These are the cultivars worth recognizing by name.
Red Lion
A well-loved big-bloomed pick that shows off rich, all-over red flowers.
Apple Blossom
Soft pink veining and washes color its otherwise white petals.
Minerva
Striking red petals frame a white star that fans out from a greenish center.
How to propagate
There's an easy way and a slow way to get more amaryllis: either lift the little offsets a bulb produces, or start fresh plants from seed.
Offsets & pupsEasy
At repotting, typically when the bulb is dormant or being divided every few years. · 1 to 3 years to reach flowering size
Want more amaryllis without much fuss? Pop off the little offset bulbs that cluster around the base of the mother bulb, which lines up nicely with repotting every few years. Each one goes into its own pot and gets the same care the parent does. Just be patient, because an offset needs 1 to 3 years before it's big enough to flower.
SeedDemanding
Sow fresh seed soon after it ripens. · Several years (often 3 to 5) to reach flowering size
Seed is an option too, as long as you sow it fresh right after it ripens, but it's a slow road that runs several years, often 3 to 5, before you get a bloom-sized bulb. On top of that, hybrids don't come true from seed, so the seedlings hardly ever look like the parent. For most folks at home, the wait just isn't worth it.
Myths
An amaryllis bulb won't flower unless it gets some fridge time first.
There's no cold chilling required for Hippeastrum bulbs at all. Hand them warmth and water and they'll push into bloom inside about 4 to 6 weeks. The one rest they actually want is a cool, dark dormancy that sets up their next round of flowers, which is a whole different thing from a stint in the fridge.
Once the amaryllis is done blooming, off come the leaves.
Each leaf is busy rebuilding the bulb, so let them keep growing in bright light and keep feeding once the blooms drop. Trim the foliage only after it yellows and dies down by itself, as the plant slides into dormancy.